Statement of Ms. Urmila Bhoola, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences at the Human Rights Council 36th Session

Geneva, 12 September 2017

Mr President, Excellencies, Delegates & Observers

It is an honour for me to once again address the Human Rights Council after completing three years as a mandate holder. This time last year I called for a redoubling of our efforts to end the horrendous suffering and humiliation of the millions of victims of contemporary forms of slavery around the world.

Following this call, over the course of my work over the last year, I have found scope both for optimism and frustration. On the one hand, I have been heartened by the increasing attention given to the issue of contemporary forms of slavery by Member States and the international community, as well as the increased attention given by the Security Council to the interconnection between slavery, trafficking and conflict as a result of which I had the honour to brief the Council in an Open Ministerial Security Council debate.

Also, as discussed in my forthcoming report to the 72nd session of the General Assembly, I believe the inclusion of target 8.7, which calls on the global community to “take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms” in the Sustainable Development Goals is a historic opportunity to accelerate efforts to end contemporary forms of slavery. 

In relation to this commitment, I welcome the work that the ILO has continued this year on Alliance 8.7 a multi-stakeholder coalition committed to accelerating and intensifying action to achieve target 8.7.

I also commend efforts made by Member States to improve individual and collective responses to contemporary forms of slavery.

However, the litmus test of any anti-slavery efforts is the real impact that they have on the lives of victims and I fear that on this measure we are still falling drastically short. As commonly cited, the ILO estimated in 2012 that globally there are 20.9 million victims of forced labour, of which 5.5 million are children. This is considered a fairly accurate proxy for the number of individuals in contemporary forms of slavery. The ILO is expected to release updated global estimates during the 72nd session of the General Assembly, and it is very likely that the availability of more data will show an even greater level of exploitation.  

This situation cannot continue unabated. The dignity and wellbeing of millions of people, migrants, women, children, indigenous communities, people with disabilities who are marginalised and vulnerable are at stake in the current climate of continued exploitation and impunity. I call again upon all members of the international community to increase efforts to combat slavery through the unwavering application of a multifaceted approach at the national, regional and international levels. Furthermore increased attention, funding and coordination are needed to achieve tangible improvements in the lives of victims.

Mr President

Before turning to discussion of the key elements of my work, I would like to acknowledge and thank the stakeholders that have supported my mandate over the last year.

They include Anti-Slavery International, the UN University and various organisations and individuals who submitted information for communications and provided me with information during my visits.

The United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery has also played a key role in supporting the mandate and I am committed to continuing co-operation with the Fund. I urge Member States to support the Fund’s work to allow greater reach to more victims.

I would also expressly thank the International Labour Organization for the continuous support given to my mandate.
I would also like to thank the Member States that have provided many different types of support to my mandate.

Mr President,

I will now turn to my thematic study on access to justice and remedy. Slavery involves the most heinous violation of human rights, including labour rights, of the most vulnerable people in society today. Ensuring effective access to justice and remedy for victims not only plays an essential role in the restitution of their human rights, but it also acts as a strong deterrent against future perpetrators. 

As outlined in my thematic report, states have an obligation to respect, promote and fulfil the right of access to justice by making available a system of effective remedies to persons in their jurisdiction. That entails the obligation of States to establish or strengthen where necessary judicial and administrative mechanisms to enable victims to obtain redress through legal procedures that are expeditious, fair and accessible. Reparations for victims should be timely, full and effective while respecting the principles of appropriateness and proportionality and must include restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition.

Access to justice is essential for eradicating contemporary forms of slavery and protecting the human rights of victims.

However, victims often encounter within justice systems a number of challenges and obstacles of a social, legal, institutional, procedural or practical nature that affect their capacity to gain access to justice and limit the remedies available to them. In some countries where contemporary forms of slavery exist, implementation of legislation that prohibits and punishes those practices remains poor owing to weak rule of law, corruption, discrimination, social exclusion and lack of capacity among law enforcement officials to investigate and prosecute perpetrators.

A comprehensive victim-centred and human rights-based approach to ensure that persons subjected to contemporary forms of slavery have access to justice and remedy must have at its centre the compliance of States with their obligations under international law as well as full restitution of the rights of victims. My broad-reaching recommendations address the identified barriers to access to justice and remedy for victims, including social and cultural barriers, practical barriers, legislative and policy barriers and institutional and procedural barriers.

Mr President,

Let me now turn to the country visit that I conducted in 2017 to Paraguay.

I thank the Government of Paraguay for inviting me to visit and for the engaging and cooperative approach of government officials. I would also like to thank OHCHR in Paraguay for their assistance with the planning and implementation of my visit and the UNRC and UNCT for their inputs and support. I also express my sincere appreciation to all civil society organisations, trade unions, indigenous people and communities, business associations and individuals who took the time to meet and share their experiences with me.

I received information about a number of issues of concern, including significant decent work deficits within Paraguay and a high level of informality in the economy; the phenomenon of cridazgo or child domestic servitude; other forms of slavery and slavery-like practices impacting children, including forced begging and worst forms of child labour; forced and bonded labour including amongst indigenous populations in the Chaco region; vulnerabilities to domestic servitude; and barriers to access to justice and remedy.

Despite these difficulties, I received information about a number of positive developments in the country. These include ratification of core international and regional human rights standards, the development of relevant legal provisions and institutional and policy frameworks, shifts in social attitudes towards rejecting exploitation, especially of children, improved compliance with national labour standards and efforts to implement the Sustainable Development Goals.

I made some initial recommendations to the Government of Paraguay and other stakeholders in my end of mission statement. These included collecting data on the prevalence of slavery and slavery-like practices, reform of the legal framework where necessary, conducting awareness-raising activities and increasing the coverage of the labour inspectorate. I remain at the disposal of the Government to provide any support to the implementation of the recommendations.

An end of mission statement elaborating on my initial findings is available on the OHCHR website and the full report with all my recommendations will be presented to the Human Rights Council at its 39th session in 2018.

Mr President,

I would now like to briefly discuss the follow-up workshops that I completed in Mauritania and Niger.

In April this year, I visited Nouakchott to conduct a workshop to follow-up on the implementation of the recommendations of my predecessor Ms. Gulnara Shahinian, who visited Mauritania in 2009 and 2014. Following Gulnara’s visit, the government passed a new anti-slavery law and developed a road map against the sequels of slavery. I thank the Government for the invitation to visit to conduct the two-day workshop. I would also thank all the civil society organisations that participated in the workshop.

Following the two-day workshop, I recognised that steps that had been taken to further anti-slavery efforts, such as the passing of a new anti-slavery law, the setting up of specific anti-slavery tribunals, the issuance of a fatwa determining that slavery and Islam are incompatible, other sensitisation activities and poverty reduction programmes amongst affected communities. 

The measure of anti-slavery efforts is however the impact that they have on lives of victims. I received some information about weaknesses in the full and effective implementation of revised anti-slavery laws, difficulty with securing convictions in crimes relating to contemporary forms of slavery, and poverty reduction and economic empowerment measures being insufficient to reach all affected communities.

I must point out that this was a brief feel that further evaluation is needed to determine the impacts of measures taken on the lives of those impacted by contemporary forms of slavery. I would encourage the Government to undertake, in cooperation with the OHCHR presence in Mauritania, a comprehensive, participatory and transparent evaluation of the implementation of the road map based on an agreed set of quantitative and qualitative indicators and to take steps to strengthen the implementation of recommendations where needed. The mandate remains at the disposal of the Government in this process of evaluation.

I also encourage the international community, including donors and the UN Country Team, to continue providing substantive and financial support to the Government, civil society and other stakeholders in the on-going implementation of the road map and to ensure that human rights are mainstreamed into all their activities.

In August I visited the country of Niger to meet with Government officials, civil society and the UN country team to conduct a two-day workshop to assess efforts to implement the recommendations I made following my official visit to the country in 2014. I would like to thank the Government for the invitation and for their participation in this follow up. I would also like to thank the civil society organisations who contributed to the robust discussions on whether progress had been made. Whilst there are still many recommendations that are pending, I was informed that efforts had been made to assess the prevalence of  contemporary forms of slavery and a plan of action is in place to focus on improving the legal and institutional framework, strengthen national mechanisms and increase co-ordination amongst them. 

The lack of resources remains a key obstacle to successfully eradicating all forms of slavery, although steps have been taken to establish the compensation fund for victims of slavery with the support of the European Union. Livelihood support for victims and their families living in poverty has also been at the top of government’s plan of action, and this has included providing land and animals to promote small-scale agriculture. Birth registration and civil registration of descendants of former slaves has also been initiated but needs to be implemented more widely. Education of children as a path to eradicating child labour and contemporary forms of slavery such as forced begging by children, as well as prosecution of religious teachers who exploit children needs to be ensured, and community awareness of contemporary forms of slavery still requires more government support, as well as strong leadership. The pervasive discrimination, particularly in rural areas, and continued existence in remote areas of traditional slavery still needs to be addressed through adequate and effective redress and ensuring access to justice for victims. Niger has made some progress but still has a long way to go to address the socio-economic, legal and psychological impact of slavery.

Reports summarising my findings and providing recommendations will be forthcoming on the website of the mandate and will be made available to the 39th session of the Human Rights Council in 2018.

Mr President and distinguished delegates

We simply cannot accept that contemporary forms of slavery such as forced labour appear to be on the increase despite the extensive financial, technological and human resources that should be available to address it. We can and must do more to stop this continued violation of human rights of adults and children, and I again call upon UN Member States, the international community and other stakeholders to do everything in their power to end these practices. The momentum towards implementing the SDGs is increasing and Alliance 8.7, a multi-stakeholder platform to address harmonised and strategically directed efforts to eradicate contemporary forms of slavery and end child labour through creation of decent work opportunities and human development, provides an opportune platform for all those committed to ending slavery to participate in.  I call on states to continue to stand together and forge ahead with unwavering implementation of targeted multi-stakeholder initiatives at the national, regional and international levels.  We owe this to ourselves as a global world that can no longer survive with the current levels of human degradation and exploitation. We have reached breaking point and can no longer stand back. Each of us has to act. I look forward to this constructive dialogue with you today and thank you for your attention.